When I reach Café Net I think we have been broken in again, as the door is open, but I hear Lara talking away and when I walk in, to my shock, I find Lara behind the counter serving a customer. She smiles at me, “Good morning Peppa. I was here early so I opened up and turned everything on. I hope you don’t mind?”
Is she on something? Has someone cloned Lara for a newer more efficient version?
When I pick my jaw up off the floor and walk behind the counter, I say to her, “I don’t mind at all, you can do it every morning if you like.”
We smile at each other and the day begins when more students enter, letting us know they are happy we are open again. I’m kept busy and yes, I'm distracted, but Noah is never far from my mind. How can he be when every time I look at Lara I can see him.
Later that afternoon, I'm sitting at one of the computers glancing at the Viper website one of the students hadn't shut down and find a photo of Juan being kissed by some girl. I can tell by his eyes that he wasn’t expecting the kiss, but it still made my heart ache. It should be me kissing him and after last night, I will make sure he receives one along with an apology. I'm surprised when a voice I recognized floats over to me and I spin in the chair to look over at the counter, my eyes meeting those of Detective Payne’s. He smiles at me and I rush over to him my heart picking up pace with every step, “Do you have news, have you found Noah?”
His smiles falls a bit, “Sorry Ms. Thorne, no news I’m afraid. I came in to get some coffee. You and the Blaise family will be the first to know if we have news we think you need to hear.”
I lower my head and walk back behind the counter disheartened saying, “Sorry, enjoy your coffee.”
My focus is brought back to him as he says my name, “I should hear something soon. I will be in contact. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
Lara and I both watch him walk out of the door. “Daddy says he is one of the best. If anyone can find Noah he can.”
I can hear the sadness in her voice and I bring my arm up to rest my hand on hers, “Let’s hope so Lara. I miss him like crazy.”
She mutters under her breathe as she walks away, “Me too.”
The last couple of hours drift by quickly and Lara made the whole day without doing a disappearing act on me. We both locked up and Lara walks over to Devil Records to get a lift home. As I watched her walk over the road, Jacob exited the building, our eyes meet and the bastard smirked and waved at me. I turned away not giving him the time of day, but it takes a good mile or so to get my breathing back under control. He brings out the panic in me. I know I can handle it if he stays away, but this is Jacob, he will be in my face soon enough.
When I walked through the door I am greeted with the sound of laughter and I find Hans and Monica all cozy on the sofa gazing at something on the laptop. We talked for a bit, telling each other about our day and Hans cooked. I felt bad that I only managed a couple of mouthfuls of his bolognaise, but I'm not hungry. I'm tired after my first day back at work so I leave Monica and Hans in each other’s company, knowing full well they wouldn’t miss me as they are so wrapped up in each other.
Lying in bed I tossed and turned, feeling anxious, waiting to see if Juan will come to me. I hear the door open and quickly sit up to stare into the nervous face of Juan. I take a deep breath and blurt out, “I’m so sorry Juan. I was a bitch.”
In the blink of an eye I’m in Juan’s arms being comforted. “You have nothing to be sorry for. I was angry Peppa because I should be there for you, by your side, supporting you. Yes, I know my work can get in the way, but know this, you come first, you and Noah will always come first.”
Juan seeks out my mouth and his tongue begs for entry. I open for him and let his sorry travel through my body, lodging in all the right places. I lie back hoping the kiss will lead to more, but he pulls away and his body falls away from me.
Before I can even think about how much that action stung, he quickly goes on to tell me, “We need to talk about Hans.”
I turn over on my stomach and look down into his face, “What about him? He’s not a serial killer is he?”
Juan lets out a little laugh, “No baby, he’s not, he’s a shifter.”
My heart skips a beat, I blink a few times processing his words. “A shifter? Oh god! Is he dangerous? Will he hurt Monica? She really likes him you know. What does he turn into? Oh, he’s not a dragon or something big like that?”
Yes, my mouth is running away with me, I have read about shifters so I am up on my supernatural world, but it is still a shock to know one is living under the same roof as us. It shouldn’t be really, because my boyfriend is a vampire.
Juan continues to tell me about shifters and lets me know that Hans is a wolf. He goes on to tell me that I have nothing to worry about where Hans is concerned as he wouldn’t hurt us. He also lets me know that he thinks it is a good idea that Monica should, at some point, be told the truth, but to wait and see how close she gets to Hans.
I also find out that a plan is in action with Viper and so far it seems to be working. The band actually played tonight with no trouble and the fans were happy. My tiredness caught up with me and Juan holds me until I fall asleep.
The next couple of days flew by. A few things have changed though. Detective Payne seemed to make the Café his new place to get his coffee. He would chat about everyday life with me and then go on his merry way. Lara and I come up with a compromise about opening and closing the cafe and we decided to do alternate weeks. She really is trying and I find myself enjoying working with her again. Juan still holds me every night and the distance I had felt between us before is closing, but he still hasn’t been intimate with me, which is becoming frustrating.
Coming home after another busy day at work, I wanted to relax. When I walk into the lounge I'm greeted by the sight of Monica and Hans rolling around on the floor, mouths attached to each other’s.
Oh great at least my best friend is getting some action, lucky cow.
They don’t notice me standing there, not even when a knock comes to the front door.
“It’s ok I will answer it, you two just continue to eat each other’s faces off.” I say sarcastically and twist around and stroll away to hear them both giggling like school girls.
I open the door with a smile trying not to laugh at catching my friend making out, but it soon drops and I gulp when I see the look of smugness on Jacob’s face. A battle starts inside me as I feel the panic start to rise. I try and push it down so he can’t see how much he affects me. “What do you want Jacob?”
“Now, that’s no way to greet an old friend Peppa. I thought better of you.”
I huff, “You’re no friend of mine. I will ask you again, what do you want?”
Our attention is soon lost from each other and our eyes focus on a car pulling up in the driveway. Jacob turns back to me, “Well, aren’t you Miss Popular tonight. Another man to add to your harem. Is he going to fill the space Noah has left behind?”
My fists clench together at the same time my teeth do and I’m about to spit out some very nasty swear words when I sense someone behind me and Hans steps out to stand by my side, “It’s ok Peppa. Let me deal with this. I take it you are here to see me Jacob.”
Before Jacob can answer him I say, “I don’t want him in the house Hans.”
“And there’s me thinking you loved me.” Jacob says this laughing.
“You are such an asshole.” Detective Payne chooses that moment to make his appearance and raises an eyebrow at my outburst and I blush every shade of red.
“Gentleman, Ms. Thorne, sorry to interrupt your evening. May I have a quick word please?” He says this to me and I nod my head and gesture with my hand for him to follow me.
Jacob shouts out, “I hope everything is alright Peppa. I’m here if you need a shoulder to cry on.”
I have a few choice words I can shout back but I ignore him as I can’t do anything with the Detective following me, but I do mutter ‘Twat,’ under my breathe.
Detective Payne chuckles, “I guess you don’t like him too much.”
I huff, “What gives you that idea Detective?” He laughs out loud this time.
We walk into the lounge to find Monica straightening up the room. She didn’t see my companion and asks, “Who is at the door?”
“Jacob,” I answer back and she straightens and turns my way.
“What does that idiot…” She doesn’t finish her statement as her mouth shuts when she spies the Detective standing there. “Oh sorry, I didn’t realize we have company. I will go and put the kettle on to make a cup of tea.” She hotfoots it into the kitchen leaving me alone with the detective.
I’m still a bit shaky after facing off with Jacob, so I walk to the bar and make myself a drink. I take a large sip before I turn back to see what has brought the detective to my doorstep. “Please sit down detective.” Hans strolls into the lounge and I point to the kitchen and mouth, "She’s in there." He nods his head at us both and walks away.
Detective Payne hasn’t moved from the spot he's standing in, but I make my way to the sofa and sit.
He looks at me confused and asks, “Where do I know his face from? He’s famous right?”
I let out a small laugh, “Yes, that’s Hans. He’s the lead singer with The Duel. Actually, I’m not sure if he still is or not. But, yes, he’s another nice gift forced onto me by the lovely Donald Blaise.”
He gives me a look to say he understands my meaning but I go on to say, “This one has backed fired on him as Hans is a lovely house guest. I guess Mr. Blaise thought Hans would give me trouble, but far from it.”
He nods, his phone rings, but he ignores it, “I came by tonight to tell you that we found nothing in the van, no evidence what so ever. It had been stolen on the night of Noah’s disappearance and dumped the same night.” His phone rings again, “I have to go, no rest for the wicked. I'm waiting to hear back about that sighting. So as soon as I do, I will let you know.”
I stand up and follow him to the front door, he turns and bumps into me, his hands grab onto my arms to steady me, and I find myself caught up in his stare. I step back and his phone goes and whatever transpired between us disappears. He answers his phone and lifts his hand to say goodbye, turns, opens the door and leaves.
Later on that night before I head to bed, I make myself a drink of water and turn to see Hans standing there. He smiles over at me, “I’m sorry about Jacob coming over tonight. I told him to ring me next time and I will meet him somewhere.”
I smile back at him and I don’t know where it comes from, but I guess from what I saw happen between them tonight pushed it forward, but I wanted him to know something, “Thanks Hans I appreciate that. I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but Juan told me what you are. I want you to know that I don’t have a problem with that. I’m involved with a vampire so I can’t say much. I don’t know what your intentions are with Monica, but I can see she likes you a lot. If it does get serious between you two, tell her the truth, don’t hide who you are from her and believe me if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and skin you alive.” I begin to walk towards him smiling sweetly.
He looks a little sad with his next words, “I like Monica a lot too. I just don’t know if she will accept me for what I am.”
I stand in front of him, “Give her a chance. I know Monica and I really don’t see her rejecting you. When Monica loves she goes all in, you being a werewolf shouldn’t change that. Promise me, if it turns into love between you two, you will tell her everything. It worked out for Juan and I and it will for you two too, just don’t keep secrets.” A small smile tugs at his lips and we both say goodnight to each other.
Come Friday, I'm so looking forward to the weekend and resting my poor achy feet. It seemed the students had all missed the Café being closed for a week and descended on us in droves, which kept us very busy. I didn’t have time to even stop and chat with Detective Payne today. There is an awkwardness there on my part since Wednesday night. I don’t know how to feel about it all. Even Lara mentioned she thought he fancied me from the way he looked at me, but I soon shot that theory down.
Juan had told me he didn’t have a gig Saturday night and he wanted to take me out somewhere, so my excitement grew thinking of actually going on a date and spending some time with him. I crossed my fingers, hoping the night will end with some hot monkey sex. Friday afternoon is coming to a close and I sent Lara home telling her I will lock up. I started shutting down the computers when I hear the door go. I spin around when a voice I hate with every fiber in me runs through my veins making my blood run cold. I stare at him blankly, not answering his question.
“Do I need to repeat myself again, so your flighty brain can process what I said? Where is he, Peppa? Where is my son?”
I stutter, “I…don’t know...where he is.”
His hand bangs down on one of the tables causing me to jump out of my skin, “You’re a lying whore. Is it so easy for you to go on with your life knowing what you have done? Living in his house? Whoring in his bed with another man? My wife has taken to her bed because she can’t cope with the loss.”
I feel my body burn with anger. It rises from deep within and when it reaches my mouth I let it rip. “How dare you come into my work place and judge me. I’m sorry about your wife. Do you think it’s easy for me to carry on day to day not knowing where Noah is? Because it isn’t. I wish it was, then I wouldn’t feel so empty inside and my heart wouldn’t be breaking.”
His hand bangs on the table again, “Poppycock! You are a liar and I will prove it. I want you out of my son’s house and his life, I want you gone.”
I shake my head, “Over my dead body.”
An evil smirk spreads across his face and that’s when the door bursts open and Lara rushes in. “Daddy you said you wouldn’t do this! You promised!”
He turns away from me, “Well I lied, there seems to be a lot of it around here.”
He walks out of the door without another word and I let out a frustrated breath. Lara looks at me apologetically but I have no words for her. My speech disappeared with my blood when it drained from my face at what I perceived as a threat to my life from Noah’s own father. Lara turns away and runs after her father and I just stand there waiting for what, I don’t know. My brain kicks in at some point and I automatically finish closing the Café up and call for a taxi to take me home not wanting to walk home alone.